If you’re interested in living a more healthful life but don’t know where to start, these 5 tips are effective and easy to incorporate into your everyday routine. When I first made the decision to make a healthy, positive shift in my life, there was a concrete starting point that helped me stay grounded. You don’t go to dairy, soy, gluten, GMO-free overnight – which is what a lot of interpretations of health look like nowadays, good news: you don’t have to go cold-turkey on anything. If you set your expectations for ‘change’ too high, you’re bound to disappoint yourself. Starting smart and small is the best way to make the biggest difference for longevity and happiness. Here are 5 recommendations:

1. Create Morning Routines. Plan a morning ritual that works for you, specifically one that includes relaxation and a lot of hydration. Wake up and oil pull for 20 minutes, have a glass of warm water with lemon, take a probiotic and Vitamin C. Practice a 10-minute stretch next to your bed. Any and all of these things can be done with limited effort and cost. Start by doing one of these practices then add on!

2. Plan Your Meals. It’s important to have a good idea of what your meals look like each day. If you’re running around town make sure you pack healthy, nutrient-dense snacks like nuts, hummus and veggies and simple snack wraps. Do a weekly grocery haul with planned meals so that you hardly have to ask, “what am I having for dinner?” Know what you can easily pack for lunch and cook for dinner without binging on high caloric and expensive restaurant food.

3. Sweat. Whether you have time for 2 hours or 20 minutes of exercise, make it count. There are so many resources on at-home workouts, “first class free” yoga, barre and pilates studios, group fitness classes at gyms, and more. Don’t just sweat to try and shed pounds, sweat to take care of the body you’re in as you age and walk through daily life.

4. Pick A Daily Mantra. This sounds cliché but it’s a great tool to stay positive when you’re feeling anything but positive. Your mantra can be anything: song lyrics, a speech, poem, quote, two words “do good”. It’s nice having something to come back to when everything else is confusing and not going your way.

5. Laugh Often. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t stress about occasionally having a big bowl of pasta for dinner or a sweet brownie for dessert. Try not to bring the stress of work home with you. Appreciate the people you love in your life and recognize that keeping yourself healthy and supported while cultivating loving relationships is what life is all about!

What are your favorite tips to cultivate a healthier life? Dish in the comments!

These tips are so good and so so easy to incorporate into daily routines! Love the oil pull idea so much and will def try it! My favorite routine is listening to music for a good hour while getting out of the shower and fixing hair and makeup…it makes such a difference in my day because it is so relaxing and is kinda like a “light” meditation!! I’m also bike riding around my neighborhood with my bf in the evening which makes a huge difference in my health and feeling of connection and well being! xo

Ever since I started planning and preparing my meals in advance I eat so much healthier and feel way better in my skin I have much more energy and somehow it also provides me with more positive feelings